Conflict Literacy and Management in Ministry

provided by Dr. Ann Garrido, author of Redeeming Conflict: 12 Habits for Christian Leaders and reprinted with her permission by the USCCB Subcommittee on Certification for Ecclesial Ministry and Service (2020)

Tension is part of every healthy community—including Christian community.  People only argue about things that they care about and where conflict is reported absent from a community’s life, it is often an indication that the community doesn’t have capacity to talk about their disagreements, or worse, the community has become apathetic about their mission and life together and simply no longer care.

Persons serving in church leadership roles should not expect that because the community they are serving is Christian they will not have to deal with conflict, or that something is wrong with the community because there is conflict.  Rather, they should anticipate that conflict will be a part of every community’s life and equip themselves to be able to manage and transform that conflict in healthy directions that deepen the community’s commitment to mission and a common life.  The vision and skills required to “do conflict well” are suggested throughout the four-fold structure of Co-Workers in the Vineyard and the PPF, and at the same time could possibly be drawn out a bit more explicitly.

In this document, Dr. Garrido has identified areas where some degree of conflict “literacy” (i.e. an understanding of the dynamics of conflict and skills for healthy conflict management) could be considered to help draw out ministry competencies in the arena of conflict management more explicitly.

Conflict Literacy and Management in Ministry - Dr. Ann Garrido - 2020